Yellow Sally Fly Patterns

It was a nymphing day, not a whole lot happening on the surface. On occasion, the little yellow stoneflies would drop to the water’s surface and bounce back into the air. No takers though.

Getting a bit bored with not catching fish with nymphs, I decided if I wasn’t catching fish, might was well do it with dries. A small yellow stimulator looked like it matched the bouncing flies. Casting to slicks and pockets, then: Wham! A foot-long rainbow nailed that fly.

Yellow Sally Adult. Photo from www.westfly.com

If you speak Latin, you may call it the Isoperla, but most call it the Yellow Sally or Little Yellow Stonefly. For patterns to match the adult, I think a yellow Elk Hair Caddis is fine, or even a pale olive. A small yellow stimulator is ideal, in the 16 to 14 size range.

Yellow Stimulator

Small Yellow Stimulator

Hook: Tiemco 200R, size 16

Tail: Blonde Elk hair

Rib: Small copper wire

Palmered body hackle: Brown saddle

Body: Yellow Superfine

Wing: Blonde Elk hair

Front Hackle: Grizzly saddle

Front body: Peacock

The yellow stimulator is close enough in most situations to the Yellow Sally, especially considering these flies are usually appear in faster waters with pockets – where the fish don’t get a lot of inspection time.

Close works with horseshoes and hand-grenades, but not when you are not catching fish. When not catching fish, I tend to doubt my fly selection, and want to get something that more closely matches the naturals. This is where Yellow Sally specific patterns come into play.